Draft-equalizer.



No. 688,685. Patented Dec. l0, mm. s. n. POOLE.

DRAFT EIIUALIZER.

(Application filed. Sept. 27, 1901.) (No Model.)

wit messes UNITED STATES STALEY D. POOLE, OF MOLIN E, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORTO DEERE PATENT FFIGE.

a COMPANY,

OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS DRAFT-EQUALIZER.

$PEOIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 688,685, dated December10, 1901 Application filed September 27, 1901. $erial No. 76,789. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STALEY D. POOLE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Moline, in thecounty of Rock Island and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Draft-Equalizers;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as Will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to draft-equalizers or eveners, and moreparticularly to eveners designed for dividing or apportioning the Workof pulling gang-plows, mowing-machines, 850., among four horses abreast.In devices of this character as heretofore used it has been necessary inorder to avoid side draft to provide a double hitch to the plow or otherimplement drawn, (which tends to thrust the implement out of itsstraight line of travel,) or else the team pulling the plow or otherimplement tends to draw sidewise from the proper line of draft or thedirect line of travel of the machine. The location of four horsesabreast in front of a two furrow or gang plow leaves the plow not quitein the middle of the rear of the team, and in hitching to such plows ateam of horses working four abreast it is particularly desirable to havethe lead horse Walk in the furrow and the other three horses on theunplowed ground without developing side draft or a diagonal pull on thetraces.

The primary object of my invention is to provide means whereby a draftconnection may be made between a team of four horses abreast and agang-plow or other implement and to have the lead horse walk in thefurrow and the other three horses on the unplowed ground and at the sametime to equalize the draft or work of pulling the machine without adiagonal pull or side draft on the traces.

Other objects are to provide an evener or draft-equalizer of thecharacter referred to which shall consist of few simple parts compactlyarranged and which shall be strong, efficient, and durable in use andinexpensive in manufacture.

The invention will first be hereinafter more particularly described withreference to the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as a partof this specification, and then pointed out in the claims at the end ofthe description.

In said drawings, Figure 1 represents a plan View of an evener ordraft-equalizer embodying my invention designed for use with four horsesabreast; and Fig. 2 is a plan view ofone-half of the evener shown inFig. 1, the top connecting-plate being removed to show the arrangementof the connections and pivots of the equalizing-levers.

In the drawings the draft-bar or doubletree of the evener is denoted bythe letter A and is provided with a centrally-disposed aperture toreceive the fastening-bolt of the clevis for connecting thereto a plowor other implement to be drawn. At each end of said draft-bar ispivotally secured the short arms I) b of two unequal-armed angle-leversB B, respectively, to the longer arms of which are secured theconnecting straps or links a of the singletrees O C. At a point aboutone-fourth the length of the lever B from the pivot of the short armthereof a short arm orlug b is provided, to which is pivoted one end ofa connecting-link 19 which has its other end pivoted to the lever B ator about the junction of the longer with the shorter arm of the latter,and said lever B has its shorter arm I) pivoted to the draft-bar A, thepivot-bolts of the levers B and B being arranged in substantially thesame horizontal plane. The said levers B and B are each preferablyprovided with a series of perforations at the ends of their longer arms,as shown, whereby the pivot-bolt of the strap or connecting-link, bywhich the singletree is secured to the said lever, may be shifted tochange the leverage in case it is desired to increase or decrease thepull required of either draft-animal, and thus equalize differences inthe make-up of the team.

In many eveners heretofore devised the attempt has been made by crowdingthe team together to minimize the effect of the side draft; but suchcrowding tends to heat and worry the team and is otherwiseunsatisfactory. My invention overcomes these disadvantages and alsoprovides a perfect evener in which every horse pullshis own load,counterbalancing the pull of his neighbor, while the pull of each pairof horses is perfectly counterbalanced by the pull of the opposite pair,assu'ming,of course,that all of the horses are pulling with an equalforce and moving at a uniform speed. By the hereinbefore-describedarrangement the right-hand or furrow horse is thrown considerably nearerthe center clevis-hole of the doubletree or draft-bar A than is thecorresponding outside horse on the left-hand side of the team. In otherwords, while the main draft-bar is centrally located as to the plow theteam as a whole is arranged to the left of said center. Furthermore, thearrangement of leverages is such as not only to avoid side drafteachhorse pulling straight and exactly parallel with the line of travel-butit has the additional ad vantage of giving great freedom to the team,the horses not being crowded together, but hitched considerably widerapart than is usual with other eveners heretofore in use.

Although the invention is especially designed and adapted for use as anevener or draft-equalizer for four horses abreast, it will be understoodthat the arrangement of levers and connections at one end of thedraft-bar, which is an exact duplicate of the arrangement at the otherend thereof, may be used alone for equalizing the draft between twohorses abreast, if desired, and hence I do not desire to limit theapplication of the invention to a four-horse evener nor to anyparticular use, it being adapted to be used for other purposes andintended to be used in whatever relation or for whatever purpose it maybe desired to use the same.

Having thus fully described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. An evener or draft-equalizer comprising a pair of unequal levers,each having the pivot of its shorter arm arranged in substantially thesame horizontal plane extending in the line of draft, and a linkpivotally connecting said levers at or about the junction of theirlonger with their shorter arms; said longer arms extending in oppositedirections at an angle to a plane passing through said pivots, andhaving apertures therein for the attachment of a single or double tree,substantially as described.

2. An evener or draft-equalizer comprising a doubletree with provisionfor attaching the same at or about its center to the implement to bedrawn, and a pair of unequal-armed levers at each side of said centerhaving their shorter arms pivoted to said doubletree; said pivots beingarranged in substantially the same horizontal plane extending in theline of draft, and the longer arms of the levers extending in oppositedirections at an angle to the plane of said pivots, a link pivotallyconnecting the shorter arms of said levers at or about the junction withtheir longer arms,

and means for connecting a single-or double tree with the longer arm ofeach lever, sub st-antially as described.

3. An evener or draft-equalizer, comprising a pair of unequal-armedlevers having the pivots of their shorter arms arranged in sub--stantially the same horizontal plane one in advance of the other, andtheir longer arms extending in opposite directions at an angle to aplane passing through said pivots, a link pivotally connecting saidlevers at intermediate points thereon, and draft devices attached to thelonger arms of said levers, substantially as described.

4. An evener or draft-equalizer, consisting of a bent or curved lever,the longer arm of which is adapted for the attachment thereto of asingle or double tree and its other arm to the pivot-bolt of the deviceto be drawn; a lug or projection on said lever located at a point aboutone-fourth the length of the lever from the end of the shorter armthereof; an angle lever having its shorter arm adapted to be pivotedadjacent to the pivot-bolt of the firstmenti'oned lever and its longerarm adapted for the attachment thereto of a single or double tree, and alink pivotally connecting said projection and angle-lever at thejunction of the longer with the shorter arm of the latter, substantiallyas described.

5. In combination with the doubletree, a pair of unequal-armed levers ator near each end, each having its shorter arm pivoted at one end to saiddoubletree and its longer arm extending substantially paralleltherewith, one of said pivots being arranged in advance of the other;and a link pivotally connecting said levers at or about the junction ofthe shorter with the longer arms thereof; the longer arms of said leversbeing adapted for the attachment thereto of a draft device,substantially as described.

6. A draft-equalizer or evener comprising a doubletree having a pair ofunequal-armedlevers With the shorter arms of each pair pivoted at ornear each end thereof, the longer arms of said levers extending inopposite directions substantially parallel with the doubletree andadapted for the attachment thereto of a draft device, together with alink loosely connecting each pair of said levers at the junction oftheir longer with their shorter arms, substantially as described.

7. A draft-equalizer or evener comprising a doubletree having a pair ofunequal-armed levers with the shorter arms of each pair pivoted at ornear each end thereof, the longer arms of said levers extending inopposite di rections substantially parallel with the doubletree andadapted for the attachment thereto of a draft device, together with alink loosely connecting each pair of said levers at the junction oftheir longer with their shorter arms, the longer lever at one end of thedoubletree confronting the shorter lever at the other end thereof sothat one outer draft-ani:

mal is brought considerably nearer the center of draft than the other,substantially as described.

8. In combination with the doubletree, a pair of unequal-armed leversarranged at each side of and equidistant from its center, having theirshorter arms pivoted thereto and their longer arms extending in oppositedirections substantially parallel therewith, and a link pivotallyconnecting each pair of levers intermediate their ends; the longer leverat one end projecting toward said center While the longer lever at theother end projects from said center, thereby locating the outerdraftanimal at one side much nearer the center than the outerdraft=animal at the other side, substantially as described.

9. An evener or draft-equalizer comprising a pair of unequal crookedlevers having end pivots for their shorter arms arranged one in advanceof the other, with their longer arms extending in opposite directions atan angle to their shorter arms, and having apertures in their free endsfor the attachment of a single or double tree, and a link pivotallyconnecting the crooks or bends of the levers at the junction of thelonger with the shorter arms thereof, substantially as described.

10. An evener or draft-equalizer comprising a doubletree with provisionfor attaching the same at or about its center to the implement to bedrawn, and a pair of unequalarmed substantially bell-crank-shaped leversat each side of said center having the ends of their shorter armspivoted to said doubletree, with the longer in opposite dis one inadvance of the other, arms of the levers extending rections at an angleto the plane of the shorter arms, a link connecting the said levers ator about the junction of their longer with their shorter arms, and meansfor attaching a single or double tree to the free ends of the longerarms of the levers, substantially as described.

11. An evener or draft-equalizer comprising a pair of unequal crookedlevers having end pivots for their shorter arms arranged one in advanceof the other, and their longer arms extending in opposite directionsfrom said pivots, and a link connecting said levers at or about thejunction of their longer with their shorter arms and in substantiallythe same plane with said longer arms; the latter having perforations intheir free ends for the attachment of a single or doubletree,substantially as described.

12. An evener or draft-equalizer comprising a pair of unequal crookedlevers having end pivots for their shorter arms arranged one in advanceof the other, and their longer arms extending in opposite directionsfrom said pivots, and a link connecting said levers at or about thejunction of their longer with their shorter arms and in substantiallythe same plane with said longer arms; the latter having a series ofperforations in their free ends for the attachment of a single or doubletree, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

STALEY D. POOLE.

Witnesses:

CHAS. H. POPE, F. D. HOLT.

